In many situations it would be useful for people to receive wirelessly information on local circumstances. For example, if a person wishes to buy from a vending machine it would be useful for him to be informed when he passes near a suitable vending machine, or if a blind person moves to an area of danger it would be useful for him to receive a warning.
Many facilities and dangers are already signed by visible, audible or tactile means. For example, shops and vending machines often bear advertising signs, pedestrian crossings may have warning buzzers and dangers such as the edges of station platforms may be marked by raised flooring. However, these are all suitable only for limited communication even to people within the normal range of utility of the circumstance being signed. For example, a vending machine may be obscured so that it cannot be seen even if it is close by and convenient for use, warning buzzers may be drowned out by loud background noises, and tactile markings are inconvenient to install and offer very limited information.
Directory and map systems exist, by means of which it is possible for a person to determine the location of facilities or dangers in a certain location. However, in order for these systems to be useful a user must know where he will be at a given time, and what his requirements will be then.
There is therefore a need for an improved system for providing information on local circumstances, especially for handicapped people.